The invention is principally concerned with a carton for fast food and the like, with the carton folded from paperboard to define an integral locked closure and handle assembly, and in particular a carton wherein the handle is formed from dual handle panels integral with the sides of the carton and interlocked by extensions of the end walls of the carton. The handle panels are provided with elongate slots or openings therethrough which, when assembled, define a hand hole.
Such cartons have been found to be highly effective. However, in the larger size cartons, for example those intended to receive whole or multiple pieces of fried chicken, the cartons tend to be weak in the handle area with the hand grip, that portion of the handle overlying the elongate hand hole, comprising only the two thicknesses of the handle panels, having a tendency to tear, generally toward the opposed ends of the hand hole.
The original carton as formed, noting the prior art blank of FIG. 7, has been designed to first of all achieve the desired configuration of formed carton, and second of all to minimize the amount of material used and the scrap materials left behind. This is significant in reducing the overall costs in light of the vast number of such throw-away cartons that are produced. Nevertheless, depending upon the particular design desired, some scrap area inevitably results. For example, in the described carton, two significant scrap areas appear both between the two handle panels of the blank and to the opposite or outer side of one of the handle panels.